Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
Fed up of watery tomato sauce with every pasta meal? One of the best ways to make a thick creamy pasta sauce is to use squash, which kind of turns into a Carbonara-type cream sauce when cooked properly. You can learn how to correctly cut a raw squash, or bake it in the oven first to make it soft.
Culinary sage is usually okay, but it’s still best to avoid for pregnancy/nursing as large amounts could trigger early labour (some say to avoid it for epilepsy, liver disease and hormone-sensitive cancers).
How to cut a butternut squash
Use a good quality knife to slice off a quarter of an inch on both top and bottom to sit securely, then stand it on the flat base, and cut into two long halves. Scoop out the seeds (you can roast these if wisehd) and stringy pulp, then peel the outer skin, to chop the flesh into chunks.
Read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods are unsafe near animal friends). Before recycling tins, rinse/remove lids (or pop ring-pulls over holes) then ‘pinch’ inner rims together, to stop wildlife getting trapped.
Although it’s good to compost food scraps, unless you have a food waste bin (turned into biogas), just bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallot, chives), citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps and tea/coffee grounds. To avoid too much acid/caffeine affecting compost creatures.
Why make a butternut squash pasta sauce?
Blended cooked butternut squash is a lovely thick creamy texture, to replace heavy cream or butter. It’s also packed with vitamins A and C, fiber and potassium. The flavour also pairs beautifully with autumn herbs like sage.
Tips for butternut squash pasta sauce
- It’s good to roast your squash with garlic and oil first, this will caramelize the natural sugars and deepen the flavour. Bake something else at the same time, to save on energy bills.
- Once made, add a cup of starchy saved pasta cooking water, thing will help the sauce cling to the pasta noodles.
- Up the umami flavours with some soy sauce, miso paste or vegan grated cheese to balance the natural sweetness of the squash sauce.
- Serve with plastic-free pasta and vegan Parmesan!
